No. 16 Men's Lacrosse Battles to the End in 10-6 Loss to No. 4 Stevenson

(box score)

Senior Johnny Casey (Glenside, PA) hit a big milestone in a classic well-played and physical game one would expect between two ranked teams, but No. 16 Widener fell just short in a 10-6 Commonwealth Conference loss to fourth-ranked Stevenson at Leslie C. Quick. Jr. Stadium.

Stevenson looked to create some breathing room in the first quarter as it took a 4-1 lead. After freshman Marc Lavine (Nashua, NH) scored 2:07 into the contest for the Pride, Peter Green tied it 52 seconds later and Mark Pannenton tallied with 10:41 remaining to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead.

Widener, as it has all year against ranked teams, continue to fight as it netted the first two goals of the second quarter for a 4-3 deficit. Casey and freshman Kyle Gratz (Worthington, OH) each tallied for the home team.

The game of runs continues with the Mustangs scoring the next three goals for a 7-3 lead with 4:49 remaining in the half. Green, Chris Dashiell and Michael Crowe found the back of the net for Stevenson.

The Pride then took advantage of the Mustangs' inability to stay out of the penalty area, getting three straight man-up goals from Casey to close to 7-6 with 1:59 to play in the third quarter.

The first goal in that run made Casey the sixth player in school history to reach 200 career points as he sits at 202. He also is fifth with 141 career goals and ninth with 61 assists.

But Stevenson was more disciplined in the fourth and scored three times for the final. Green tallied with 10:43 left for an 8-6 contest and Pat Candon added a man-up tally with 9:33 to play for a three-goal margin.

In addition to Casey's four goals, junior Robert Clemens (Aston, PA) had two assists and junior Mac Nestler (Chatham, NJ) made 12 saves for the Pride.

Green scored three times, Candon had two goals and an assist with Kevin Cain amassing nine saves for the Mustangs (14-2, 7-0 CC).

Widener (9-5, 5-2) sits third in the conference, one-half game behind Albright for second place.

The Pride will have a long rest before closing the regular season next Saturday at Hood, starting at 1:00 pm in Frederick, MD.

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